Midterm elections, when turnout is traditionally low, are all about getting voters engaged enough to actually go the polls and vote. In the USA TODAY survey taken Friday through Sunday, there's sobering news on that front for Democrats. Just 35% of Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters said they were "more enthusiastic than usual" about voting in November. That's down eight percentage points from May and a precipitous 22-point drop from the poll we took in March.

In fact, it's the lowest level of enthusiasm for Democratic voters since 1998.

Enthusiasm among Republicans and Republican-leaning voters dipped, too, but not as much as among Democrats. Now, 53% of Republicans say they are more enthusiastic than usual about voting, down six points from May and 16 points from March.

So Republicans now benefit from an 18-point enthusiasm advantage -- an edge that, if it holds up, could be more important than money in the bank.

On the other hand, Democrats do have an edge in what's called the generic congressional ballot, a question that asks which party's candidates respondents would vote for if the congressional election were being held today. Now, by 48%-43%, they pick the Democrat. It's the first lead for Democrats on that measure since January.

The poll of 1,014 adults, taken by landline and cell phone, has a margin of error of +/-4 percentage points.

To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

About Catalina Camia

Catalina Camia leads the OnPolitics online community and has been at USA TODAY since 2005. She has been a reporter or editor covering politics and Congress for two decades, including stints at The Dallas Morning News and Congressional Quarterly. Follow her at @USATOnPolitics.